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Critical Topics and Their Significance for the UPSC CSE Examination on June 06, 2025

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Stampede

For Preliminary Examination:  Current events of national and international significance

For Mains Examination: GS III: Disaster and disaster management

Context:

Behind Wednesday’s stampede in Bengaluru, which occurred as thousands gathered to celebrate the IPL victory of Royal Challengers Bangalore, lies an apparent lack of planning, an underestimation of the number of fans who would gather, and confusion over the free passes available to allow entry to the Chinnaswamy Stadium

Read about:

What is stampede?

What are the primary causes of stampedes?

Key takeaways:

• Wenguo Weng and colleagues describe a stampede as a sudden, uncoordinated surge of a crowd that can lead to serious injuries or loss of life (Review of Analyses on Crowd-Gathering Risk and Its Evaluation Methods, 2023).
• Illiyas and his team characterize a stampede as a breakdown in the organized movement of people, typically triggered by a perceived threat, a loss of personal space, or a strong desire to reach something deemed valuable. This disruption often results in harm or fatalities.
• The primary cause of death during stampedes is traumatic asphyxia, which occurs when breathing is partially or completely stopped due to external pressure on the chest or abdomen. Interestingly, even relatively small crowds—just six or seven individuals pressing in one direction—can create forces strong enough to cause fatal injuries.
• Other medical causes of death during such events include heart attacks (myocardial infarctions) due to reduced or halted blood flow to the heart, severe crush injuries to internal organs, trauma to the head, and compression of the neck.
• Stampedes usually occur in the context of large gatherings, which can either be unplanned—like rush hour crowds in metro stations—or organized events. A tragic example of the latter is the Hathras satsang stampede in July 2024, where over 116 people lost their lives.
• Panic is almost always a contributing factor in stampedes. Psychologist Alexander Mintz, in a landmark 1952 paper titled Non-Adaptive Group Behavior, argued that in high-stress situations, cooperation is essential for individual and collective safety. However, once the collective sense of cooperation breaks down, individuals tend to act in self-interest, worsening the situation.
• On a recent Wednesday morning, a public announcement was made that a victory parade would take place in an open-top bus carrying the team from Vidhana Soudha to the stadium, a distance of about 1 kilometer. This would precede a stadium event where a limited number of free passes were made available online.
• However, by 11:56 am, traffic authorities announced the cancellation of the parade. At around 1:30 pm, the team arrived at HAL Airport, transferred to a hotel, and then moved towards Vidhana Soudha, where the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, was scheduled to honor them. By this time, a large crowd had already assembled at the Vidhana Soudh